Residents of a Cumming subdivision will be getting a break from a first-of-its-kind residential services fee in that city after a vote by the Cumming City Council. The Marketplace Commons development has a multi-use zoning designation and its developer imposed the $85 a month fee as a way of compensating the city for the lower tax revenue generated by a mixed commercial/residential project, as opposed to one that’s strictly commercial. The city earmarked the money to pay for such neighborhood improvements as traffic signs and street repaving.

Several residents complained about the steepness of the fee at the September council session. At its Oct. 17 meeting, council members decided to suspend the levy and again specify that all the money collected so far go for neighborhood infrastructure.

City officials said the fee will go away in December.

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Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney — pictured during a hearing Monday, Dec. 15, 2025 — has cleared the way for Georgia's State Election Board to obtain Fulton ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC